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The living of the parish of St Helen, Little Eversden, has been in the gift of Queens' College, Cambridge since 6 February 1572, when it was given to the college by `John Chetham of Great Livermore in the County of Suffolk, Gent.'.
The church is mainly 14th century and was restored in 1891 - 92, with an official reopening by the Bishop of Ely on 23 June 1892. There were two reopening services and the Parish Monthly of July 1892 also records the following:
`In order to mark the occasion the Rector and Messrs Hagger, T Ellis, Porter, Royston and Browning entertained all in the parish above the age of 20. Nearly 70 sat down to tea in the Schoolroom and everything passed off pleasantly and well.'
The most interesting features of the church are:
- north porch, which dates back to the 15th century
- font, which is 13th century and has an octagonal bowl some of the glass in the first window on the north side of the nave and in the west window of the tower, which dates from the 14th and 15th centuries
- choir stalls which were reset from the chapel of Queen's College, Cambridge
- rood loft stair opening on the north side of the chancel arch
There used to be a beautiful altar frontal depicting wild flowers. This was given by Diana Croft and worked by Richard Croft in memory of the Reverend Harold
Croft who served in these parishes between 1983 and 1984 after his retirement from full-time ministry. The frontal
was based on a watercolour design by Mrs Nellie Riley who lived in Little
Eversden. The watercolour is on display in the chancel of St Mary's Church, Great
Eversden. Sadly the altar frontal was stolen during the Remembrance Day
service in Great Eversden in 1998 and never seen again. The replacement, dedicated
in 2001, is brought to the church only on special occasions.
Click for
more on the frontals
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